This invention relates generally to board games and more specifically to abstract strategy games where players attempt to maneuver the playing pieces to a goal configuration.
The defining property of a board game is usually that it includes a board which serves as a playing surface with pieces moving on this surface.
A unique feature of the present invention is that the playing surface is not a stable configuration but rather is rearranged constantly during the play of the game.
Most board games have a playing surface which is fixed in shape and detail and games of this type clearly do not anticipate the present invention. The prior art includes a number of games which resemble the present invention superficially in that (1) tiles are arranged to form a playing surface or portion of a playing surface or (2) the game has a board which changes during play of the game.
The majority of games in the first group are distinguished from the present invention in most of the following respects: (i) the tiles are arranged in a particular fixed shape; (ii) the tiles are not rearranged during the play of the game; (iii) there is no interaction between the movement or placement of tiles and the movement or placement of other pieces; (iv) each tile represents a single playing position; and (v) the tiles require indicia to indicate their effect on the play of the game. Games in this group include Trippples (U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,791) and the game described in Schifman U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,253.
The majority of games in the second group are distinguished from the present invention in most of the following respects: (i) the board is composed of pieces which may be rotated, slid back and forth or otherwise repositioned in a constrained manner; (ii) pieces of the board maintain their relative positions; (iii) there is a distinguished initial configuration; (iv) there are relatively few (less than one million) possible configurations; and (v) these games are race or maze games or variations of common games such as chess and checkers. Games in this group include Shuttles (Shoptaugh U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,934) and the game apparatus described in Escamilla-Kelly U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,027.
The present invention falls into both groups and is clearly not anticipated by the previously described games. There are also a few games in the prior art which fall into both groups. These all differ from the present invention in other important respects.
The game Octiles (Dale Walton) uses tiles which are positioned to form paths of a playing surface. This game differs from the present invention in at least these respects: (i) the tiles are arranged in a particular fixed shape on a board; (ii) the tiles represent the connections between the playing positions rather than the playing positions themselves; (iii) the tiles require indicia to indicate their effect on the play of the game; and (iv) the game is a race game.
The game Proteus (Michael Waitsman) uses tiles which trade positions and turn over. This game differs from the present invention in at least these respects: (i) the tiles are arranged in a particular fixed shape on a board; (ii) each tile represents a single playing position; (iii) the movement of the pawns is according to chess-like rules rather than depending on the placement of the tiles (the particular rules in effect depends on which tiles are face up, but not on their positions); and (iv) the tiles require indicia to indicate their effect on the play of the game.